Harrogate council says bedroom tax may help homeless

A report to be considered by councillors in Harrogate says encouraging people to move to smaller homes could free them up for larger families and they could be used to help the growing number of rough sleepers - sometimes sent to B&Bs or to Leeds as there is not enough temporary accommodation in the district.

Andy Kirk, leader of the Harrogate Homeless Project’s No Second Night Out scheme, which provides emergency shelter to those at risk, told the Yorkshire Post “shocking” number of people were coming through the doors of its hostel.

“We, of course, have a lot of people with issues historically associated with homelessness such as drug and alcohol dependency. But there is a real shift from this group to people who have found themselves homeless following relationship breakdowns, redundancy or being asked to leave by family and friends – basically through no fault of their own,” he said.